Trump scheduled to attend Davos amid impeachment trial

President Trump is planning to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, next week, a trip that is likely to coincide with the start of his impeachment trial in the Senate.

“He is scheduled to go, and we’re prepared to go, but we’ll see what happens,” White House principal deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley told reporters at the White House Wednesday.

Gidley said that Trump is “absolutely” comfortable traveling out of the country while his trial is taking place.

“You’ve seen what the president has been able to do while the House is doing its best to play politics and ignore the needs of the American people,” Gidley said.

“The president is focused on doing his job, focused on making the lives of all Americans better,” Gidley said, accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and other Democrats of focusing “on their own selfish political desires.”

The White House previously announced that the presidential delegation attending the annual economic forum in Davos from Jan. 20-24 would include White House advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and other top officials.

Trump himself is scheduled to attend between Jan. 21-22, according to The Associated Press.

Trump skipped the economic forum last year because of the ongoing government shutdown.

The House voted Wednesday to send the articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress to the Senate, paving the way for a trial likely beginning next week.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) predicted this week that the Senate trial would begin on Tuesday. 

The White House is expressing confidence ahead of the trial in the GOP-controlled Senate. A senior administration official told reporters Wednesday that the White House didn’t expect the trial to extend beyond two weeks, characterizing Democrats’ case as weak. 

Brett Samuels contributed.